Pink Floyd Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ With Tom Stoppard Play ‘Darkside’

On August 26th, BBC Radio 2 aired Darkside, a radio play written by Academy Award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard, which incorporates the music of Pink Floyd‘s classic, iconic album The Dark Side Of The Moon. The play was an original commission to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album’s release and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. It will be released November 26th worldwide. An animated trailer can be seen below.

Stoppard comments, “When The Dark Side of the Moon was a new album in 1973, a friend of mine walked into my room where I was working with a copy in his hand and said ‘You really have to do a play about this album.’ So, when, roughly 39-and-a-half years later, Jeff Smith from Radio 2 asked me if I’d like to do some kind of play around the 40th birthday of the Pink Floyd album, it really wasn’t a very difficult decision.”

The play follows Emily, a philosophy student, through a series of thought experiments, which are vividly brought to life by a cast of characters portrayed by Bill Nighy, Rufus Sewell and others.

David Gilmour: “I found the script of Tom’s play fascinating; I can’t think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side of The Moon’s 40 year anniversary.”

Nick Mason: “I love it. If anyone is going to mess with the crown jewel of albums, Tom is a very good choice.”

Bill Nighy: “To get a combination of Tom Stoppard and Pink Floyd…is a massive deal, a marriage made in radio heaven.”